3 ms·

I used to work in a college computer lab, where I helped the students learn how to use PCs and debug their programs. Talent can be taught, and people can be men

I used to work in a college computer lab, where I helped the students learn how to use PCs and debug their programs. Talent can be taught, and people can be mentored. Pair programming can also be used to teach. What is the difference between the Federal government's Trump cuts and Google and Microsoft cutting people?

ggm 1y ago
NIH funded work underpins a lot of what happens in the strictly commercial sector. NSF likewise. So, the difference is the work is often decades long, aimed at digging foundations and feeds commercialisation where Google might be digging a trench for 5 years but will (-and has) cut for a senior managers KPI. Before this government, you would think a difficult but important long range exercise would be default-continue and now, it's default-end. I'm not here to say one is always better than the other. There certainly were fixed duration no repeat funding rounds but there was a continuity to the science. Do you honestly think the NIH would fund things like mRNA vaccines, in the current political environment? Or NSF back peskovite cell work, given the collapse of solar industry? These things are now down beyond the hole digging phase. There will be other fields which are like they were 10 or 15 years ago, and the fear would be the work will either happen overseas or in a Google, and target a low bar short term outcome rather than establish fundamentals. As a non USA person my contention would be the work will be done but the IPR will be European or Asian IPR. (Not necessarily a bad thing. And to Google, the work they did in project Loon is feeding LEO Sat stuff which defence and other people are now paying for. Its engineering more than fundamental science, but it is good work and it didn't end when alphabet decided to pull out of loon. So there's that)
- orionblastar 1y ago
  Thank you. Microsoft and Google are looking to hire H1B Visa workers to work for less money to replace those laid off. I wonder how the federal government will do with the loss of talented workers?
fuzzfactor 1y ago
>What is the difference between the Federal government's Trump cuts and Google and Microsoft cutting people? It's not all that much difference if you want to work in an academic institution, national lab, or corporate environment, and certainly not whether you are a scientist either. Prosperity is receding according to government decree. Different governments do this to different generations from time to time.

ggm 1y ago

NIH funded work underpins a lot of what happens in the strictly commercial sector. NSF likewise. So, the difference is the work is often decades long, aimed at digging foundations and feeds commercialisation where Google might be digging a trench for 5 years but will (-and has) cut for a senior managers KPI. Before this government, you would think a difficult but important long range exercise would be default-continue and now, it's default-end. I'm not here to say one is always better than the other. There certainly were fixed duration no repeat funding rounds but there was a continuity to the science. Do you honestly think the NIH would fund things like mRNA vaccines, in the current political environment? Or NSF back peskovite cell work, given the collapse of solar industry? These things are now down beyond the hole digging phase. There will be other fields which are like they were 10 or 15 years ago, and the fear would be the work will either happen overseas or in a Google, and target a low bar short term outcome rather than establish fundamentals. As a non USA person my contention would be the work will be done but the IPR will be European or Asian IPR. (Not necessarily a bad thing. And to Google, the work they did in project Loon is feeding LEO Sat stuff which defence and other people are now paying for. Its engineering more than fundamental science, but it is good work and it didn't end when alphabet decided to pull out of loon. So there's that)

orionblastar 1y ago
Thank you. Microsoft and Google are looking to hire H1B Visa workers to work for less money to replace those laid off. I wonder how the federal government will do with the loss of talented workers?

fuzzfactor 1y ago

>What is the difference between the Federal government's Trump cuts and Google and Microsoft cutting people? It's not all that much difference if you want to work in an academic institution, national lab, or corporate environment, and certainly not whether you are a scientist either. Prosperity is receding according to government decree. Different governments do this to different generations from time to time.